Words and phrases to enhance your leadership effectiveness

Absolutely is a great motivational word. It shows complete, total and utter support for and agreement with the other person. Best used when introducing a further challenge such as when your subordinate says: “I am proud that my team cut costs in the building of the new store.” You respond: “Absolutely! And both the cost and the time have to be cut even further in the building of the next store.” This builds on success and exhorts your staff to an even higher level performance.

So far When carefully chosen, this phrase indicates, simultaneously, optimism and caution. “Our results have been very good” is soft and fuzzy. Contrast that with: “Our results have been very good – so far.” First, you communicate pleasure and approval; then darkly hint at greater challenges to be overcome. Beware, you are intimating to your underlings, vigilance and greater effort will be needed.

Going forward speaks for itself. If you don’t go forward, you stand still. And standing still means only one thing – going backwards. It’s self-explanatory, really. This phrase shows that you are firmly focused on the future. It is best used, in the same way as “so far”, at the end of a sentence. For example: “The generation of sales leads must be made more efficient, going forward.” People get the main idea of what you are saying and expect a full stop. They relax. But no! There is a sting in the tail. This phrase adds impetus and urgency, and looks to a bright new future.

Criticism is more a concept than a word but is a vital tool in the toolkit of an efficient manager. It should not be confused with “feedback” which is indulgent and superficial. Criticism shows others where they are wrong. It also shows that you have high standards to which those around you should aspire.

Speaks for itself is a fine phrase which avoids the irritation of explaining matters in detail, especially figures, and saves a lot of time. Your colleagues will not want to appear ignorant, so will nod vigorously in agreement with you and to each other. This allows you then to issue orders – well, put forward your proposals – based on the figures.

Counter intuitive is a phrase that makes people sit up and really take notice. What you have proposed may sound wrong, lacking reason, even stupid to your colleagues. You may be wrong, lacking reason and stupid but others will feel you have mystical powers, in touch with an alternative reality (they might be right about that). Another advantage of using this phrase is that you don’t have to explain your reasoning. If others look dubious, follow up with “I know, it sounds paradoxical.” That will really convince them.

Paradigm also has mystical properties that the simple word “pattern” fails to convey. Further, if you propose something counter intuitive, you may well be launching a paradigm shift (“pattern shift” has not got the same resonance, has it?) Use of this phrase will convert people, who may hitherto have been simple colleagues, into ardent devotees going forward.

Maximise indicates a man in charge, forceful and successful. Profit: maximise. Working capital: maximise. Capacity: maximise. To achieve this maximisation, the effort of staff should be maximised.

The perpetrator of maximisation is the Maximise Man. The end result of this maximisation is maximising the return to shareholders, which is obviously good. There may be a temporary immiseration of the workforce, indeed, possibly 95% of the world’s population. But, once all the maximise men and shareholders have accumulated enough wealth, this will trickle down to the benefit of everyone. Eventually. Well, that is the theory.

Use these simple words and phrases and you’ll get ahead of the game. Maybe, you will become a Maximise Man.

Hollywood has made cowboys very glamorous but the reality is different. For example, a cowpoke was a man who rode the cattle truck holding a sharp stick. His job was to poke any cow that looked like it wanted to lie down to prevent it from getting trampled.

No wonder then, that in this tedious, noisy and smelly world, cowboys developed a rich philosophy which might be applied to organisational life.

“The only way to drive cattle fast is slowly”
“Timing has a lot to do with the outcome of a rain dance”

Testimonials

One of your strengths is that you manage to be very unobtrusive and really let people do their own thinking and communicate amongst themselves – in short, you really are a “facilitator”, not someone who takes the whole process over.

There is no doubt that the results we have seen at Citrix, where we have used you repeatedly over a number of years, have been astounding.

I think due to a mixture of your approach, your personality and local management support, we have managed to build a real culture of openness, continuous learning and self-improvement
- Chris Shepherd, Senior Director, Product Development, Citrix

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